dissertation - core · 1 ducat 375 maravedis 11 reals and 1 maravedi 1 escudo 350 maravedis or 10...

DISSERTATION

Titel der Dissertation When Political Economies Meet: Spain, China and

Japan in Manila, 1571‐1644

Verfasserin Mag. phil. Birgit Magdalena TREMML

angestrebter akademischer Grad Doktorin der Philosophie (Dr. phil.)

Wien, Juni 2012

Studienkennzahl lt. Studienblatt: A 092 312 Dissertationsgebiet lt. Studienblatt: Geschichte Betreuerin / Betreuer: Univ. Prof. Dr. Peer Vries

Acknowledgements Over the past five years, people often told me how lucky I was for being paid to pursue my passion. Although this shows that research in the humanities is regrettably considered nothing more than a pastime by many, I am also aware that I have been in a very privileged position. My employment at the Department of Social and Economic History at the University of Vienna enabled me to carry out truly global research in Europe, Asia and America, to teach in an inspiring global history program that had a profound impact on my work, and to be introduced into the academic community. Still, the present dissertation would have been impossible without the generous support of other organizations. The Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology (Monbukagakusho), which financed my research as graduate student at the University of Tokyo in 2008/09, deserves special mentioning. I also received generous funding for archival research and participation in conferences from the Österreichische Gesellschaft für Wissenschaft (ÖFG), the Theodor Körner Fonds and the Newberry Library. I would like to express my sincerest gratitude to my advisors Univ. Prof. Dr. Peer Vries and Ao. Prof. Mag. Dr. Friedrich Edelmayer, MAS, whose encouragement, expertise and support have accompanied me over the years. I am deeply indebted to my colleague Ashley Hurst for his patient help in editing this extensive paper as well as to my dear colleagues and friends Gabriele Dorner, Lisa Hellman, Kenji Igawa, Alejandra Irigoin, Csaba Oláh, Yūzuki Ripplinger, Yūko Shimizu, Lisa Sturm, Annelieke Vries‐Baaijens and Kenjiro Yara for discussions, comments and crucial details. Last but not least, I would like to thank my family, friends and my partner Matti Werner for putting up with me during stressful times and always believing in my project.

Vienna, June 2012

Table of Contents

1. Introduction...................................................................................................................................................1 1.1. Aims...................................................................................................................................................................4

1.1.1. The Empirical Setting .............................................................................................................. 4 1.1.2. Research Overview and Questions ............................................................................... 12 1.1.3. State of the Art ......................................................................................................................... 13

1.2. Sources..........................................................................................................................................................18 1.2.1. Primary Sources and the Problem of Data ............................................................... 18 1.2.2. Spanish Data .............................................................................................................................. 19 1.2.3. Japanese Data ............................................................................................................................ 19 1.2.4. Chinese Data............................................................................................................................... 20 1.2.5. Edited Sources .......................................................................................................................... 21

1.3. Building a Theoretical Framework.................................................................................................23 1.4. Methods........................................................................................................................................................24

1.4.1. Reading Against the Grain ................................................................................................. 24 1.4.2. Comparative Analysis........................................................................................................... 25 1.4.3. Connected Histories .............................................................................................................. 27

1.5. Definitions and Setting .........................................................................................................................28 1.5.1. Time and Space ........................................................................................................................ 29 1.5.2. Language ...................................................................................................................................... 32

1.6. Chapter Overview ...................................................................................................................................32 2. The Comparative Framework............................................................................................................34 2.1. General Thoughts on Comparing Political Economies .........................................................34 2.2. The Spanish Overseas Empire ..........................................................................................................35

2.2.1. The Composed Monarchy: A European Empire?.................................................. 37 2.2.2. Integration and Administration of the New World............................................. 39 2.2.3. Trade with the Indies and the Spanish Political Economy ............................. 42 2.2.4. Repositioning in an Emerging Global World: European Conflicts,

External Challenges and Maritime Issues............................................................. 46 2.2.5. The 'Foreign' in the Spanish Overseas Empire...................................................... 47

2.3. Ming China ..................................................................................................................................................49 2.3.1. The Setting: Government in late Ming China .......................................................... 51 2.3.2 Ming China's Political Economy....................................................................................... 55 2.3.3. Repositioning in an Emerging Global World – The 1570s and the Single

Whip Reforms ....................................................................................................................... 57

2.3.4. Maritime Issues: Illicit Trade Activities and Official Policies in the South China Sea.................................................................................................................................. 60

2.3.5. The 'Foreign' in Ming China .............................................................................................. 63 2.4. Azuchi‐Momoyama / Tokugawa Japan........................................................................................65

2.4.1. The Setting: The Aftermath of Sengoku .................................................................... 67 2.4.2. Pursuing Sovereignty at Home: Hideyoshi vs. Ieyasu ....................................... 70 2.4.3. Repositioning in an Emerging Global World........................................................... 73 2.4.4. A Japanese Political Economy: The Tokugawa bakufu seiken ....................... 76 2.4.5. Maritime Issues: From Wakō Enterprices to Shuinsen Trade...................... 78 2.4.6. The ‘Foreign’ in Early Modern Japan ........................................................................... 79

2.5. Outlook .........................................................................................................................................................82 3. The Foundations of a Global Stage ..................................................................................................85 3.1. The Early Modern Philippines ..........................................................................................................85

3.1.1 The Islands in Pre‐colonial Times .................................................................................. 86 3.1.2 The Arrival of the Spaniards.............................................................................................. 88

3.2. The Castilian Territorial Model ........................................................................................................91 3.2.1. Land Seizure and Regional Administration............................................................. 91 3.2.2. Colonial Offices......................................................................................................................... 94 3.2.3. Dualism between Secular and Ecclesiastical Administration: The Church

Beyond Missionary Duties............................................................................................. 97 3.3. Crown Monopolies: Overseas Spain’s Political Economy ................................................ 101

3.3.1. The Founding of the First European Capital in the East ................................105 3.3.2 The Municipal Government..............................................................................................107

3.4. Demographic Vicious Circles.......................................................................................................... 107 3.5. Manila's Global Integration ............................................................................................................. 113 4. Triangular Trade: Junk Trade, Transpacific Trade and Provision Trade.................. 116 4.1. General Considerations on the Manila System...................................................................... 116 4.2. The Manila Galleon and Beginning of Trans‐Pacific Trade ............................................. 120 4.3. South China Sea Trade in the Sixteenth Century.................................................................. 124 4.4. A Triangular Trade? The integration of the Manila Galleon into South East Asian Trading Networks......................................................................................................................................... 128

4.4.1. Vast Dimensions of the Manila Galleon Trade .....................................................128 4.4.2. Fujianese Trade with Manila..........................................................................................134 4.4.3. Irregular Beginnings of Japanese Trade in Manila ............................................135

4.5. Manila as Sino‐Japanese Intermediary Port ........................................................................... 138 4.6. “The Spirits That They Called” – Bargaining on the Spot ................................................. 141

4.7. Provisions Trade................................................................................................................................... 143 4.8. Silver, Arbitrage and Other Connections.................................................................................. 146 4.9. Manila‐Macao: Change, Challenge and Competition in the South China Sea ......... 150 4.10. Intercultural Patterns of the Manila Trade........................................................................... 152 4.11. Concluding Remarks........................................................................................................................ 154 5. Triangular Foreign Relations and Diplomatic Cultures..................................................... 156 5.1. Intercultural Diplomacy and Foreign Relations in the South China Sea .................. 156 5.2. Developments of Sino‐Japanese Foreign Relations ............................................................ 159 5.3. Geopolitics and Diplomatic Relations between China and the Overseas Empire 165 5.4. Diplomatic Relations between Japan and the Overseas Empire .................................. 173

5.4.1. Irregular Beginnings ...........................................................................................................173 5.4.2. Diplomatic relations between Tokugawa Japan and the Spanish

Overseas Empire................................................................................................................178 5.5. Sovereignty and Early Geopolitical Interest ........................................................................... 184

5.5.1. Spanish Aspiration and East Asian Reaction ........................................................185 5.5.2. Direct and Indirect Hegemony: East Asian Aspirations and European

Responses..............................................................................................................................192 5.6. The Impacts of Religion on Bilateral and Intercultural Relations ............................... 196 5.7. Concluding Remarks........................................................................................................................... 200 6. Communication and Misunderstanding.................................................................................... 203 6.1. The Challenges of Official Communication.............................................................................. 203 6.2. Language in Bilateral Communication ...................................................................................... 204

6.2.1. Language, Linguists and Envoys ..................................................................................205 6.2.2. Oral Communication ...........................................................................................................208

6.3. Official Communication Between Japan and the Spaniards: .......................................... 212 6.4. Intercultural Diplomacy and the Appropriation of Diplomatic Standards ............. 219

6.4.1. Cultures of Giving..................................................................................................................221 6.4.2. A Clash of Ideologies? .........................................................................................................225

6.5. Early Modern Intercultural Diplomacy: A Matter of Learning and Dis‐learning?229 6.6. Concluding Remarks........................................................................................................................... 233 7. Zooming Out: Local and Central Dualism ................................................................................. 235 7.1. The Three Pre‐modern Economies in Manila: Aspiration and Efforts...................... 235 7.2. Comparisons and Connections: The Global and the Local............................................... 240

7.2.1. The Spanish Metropolis and Transpacific Bartering........................................240 7.2.2. Japan: Foreign Silk Trade and Local‐Central Competition between Kanto

and Kyushu ...........................................................................................................................246

7.2.3. Private vs. Shuinsen‐Trade with Luzón ...................................................................250 7.2.4. Beijing‐Fujian ..........................................................................................................................257

7.3. Early Modern 'Capacity Building': Transfer via Manila .................................................... 264 7.3.1. Information Gathering and Technological Transfer.........................................264 7.3.2. Case studies from Japan ....................................................................................................266

7.4. Geopolitical Strategies and Maritime Policies: Local‐Central Tensions ................... 273 7.4.1 China: Taiwan and the Zheng..........................................................................................273 7.4.2. Japan .............................................................................................................................................275

7.5. Concluding Remarks........................................................................................................................... 282 8. Zooming in: Early Modern Manila and a micro‐study of regional globalisation...... 284 8.1. Indicators of Early Modern Regional 'Globalisation'.......................................................... 284

8.1.1. The Braudelian Model and other Attempts to Study Maritime Space ....285 8.1.2. Fitting and challenging concepts .................................................................................287 8.1.3. Special Characteristics of Manila .................................................................................288

8.2. Manila and East Asian Human Agency ...................................................................................... 291 8.3. Administration and Multi‐layered Urban Matters............................................................... 292

8.3.1. Settling Policies: Actors and Agents...........................................................................294 8.3.2. Manila and her Ethnic Neighbourhoods..................................................................296 8.3.3. A Flexible Labour Market?...............................................................................................303

8.4. Taxation and Residence Permits .................................................................................................. 307 8.5. Juridical Issues and Multicultural Conflicts............................................................................. 309

8.5.1. The “Chinese” ..........................................................................................................................310 8.5.2. The Japanese............................................................................................................................315 8.5.3. Cultural and Social Issues.................................................................................................319

8.6. Manila's Seascape Environment and Past 1624 Developments................................... 324 8.7. Concluding Remarks........................................................................................................................... 326 Concluding Remarks.................................................................................................................................... 329 Primary Sources............................................................................................................................................. 335

Unprinted sources .............................................................................................................................335 Printed sources....................................................................................................................................335

Secondary Sources........................................................................................................................................ 337 Zusammenfassung (German).................................................................................................................. 373 Abstract (English)......................................................................................................................................... 375 Curriculum Vitae ........................................................................................................................................... 377

Part I: Introduction

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1. Introduction A note on names and places

This research project raises some awkward issues concerning the transcription of names and places. In general, names are given starting with the first name. Chinese, Japanese and Korean names are given in the common order of family name followed by first name in Asian language publications, except for the listing of works by Japanese authors in the bibliography. Place names are given in their English form. Chinese or Japanese characters are used to avoid confusion with similar phonetic terms. Other foreign terms are transcribed in a spelling closest possible to the original, while in cases of doubt drawing attention to the original characters. Note on weights, measures and currencies1 equals equals Note 1 peso 8 reals 1 ducat 375 maravedis 11 reals and 1

maravedi

1 escudo 350 maravedis or 10 reals

gold coin 1 real**) 34 maravedis 1 maravedi very small unit 1 tomin copper currency 1 koku 60 kg Japanese weight

unit 1 picul (pico)*) 130 libras 60 kg 1 tael 1.4 Spanish reals 1.4 Spanish reals *) Picul derives from a Malay dialect and entered European languages in the sixteenth century as pico. It was commonly used in South East Asia and roughly equals sixty kilograms. **) Real: Spanish silver coin.

1 Based on Mia Rodríguez Salgado, The Changing Face of Empire. Charles V, Philip II and Habsburg Authority, 15511559 (Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1988), xv‐xvi.

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Gradually commerce has so increased, and so many are the

Sangley2 ships which come to this city laden with goods – as all kinds

of linen and silks; ammunition, food supplies, as wheat, flour, sugar;

and many kinds of fruit (although I have not seen the fruits common

in Spaña) – and the city has been so embellished, that were it not for

the fires and the calamities visited upon her by land and by sea, she

would be the most prosperous and rich city of your Majesty’s domains.

As I have written to your Majesty in other letters, this city has the best

possible location for both its temporal and spiritual welfare, and for

all its interests, that could be desired. For on the east, although quite

distant, yet not so far as to hinder a man from coming hither, with

favorable voyage, lie Nueva España and Perú to the north about three

hundred leagues, are the large islands of Japón; on the northwest lies

the great and vast kingdom of China, which is so near this island that,

starting early in the morning with reasonable weather, one would

sight China on the next day.3

2 A pejorative term used by the Spaniards for members of Fujianese merchant communities that originated from a mispronunciation of chang lai (those who come frequently) or shang lai (those who come to trade). See Manuel Ollé, La Empresa de China. De la Armada Invencible al Galeón de Manila (Barcelona: Acantilado, 2002), 244; 263. 3 Bishop Domingo Salazar to King Philip II in 1588. Cf. Emma Helen Blair, James Alexander Robertson, Edward Gaylord Bourne, eds., The Philippine Islands, 14931898. Explorations by Early Navigators, Descriptions of the Islands and Their Peoples, Their History and Records of the Catholic Missions, as Related in Contemporaneous Books and Manuscripts, Showing the Political, Economic, Commercial and Religious. Cleveland, 1903‐1909 (55 vols. Hereafter abbreviated BR) (Cleveland: Arthur H. Clark, 1905) 7: 221‐222.

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1.1. Aims

1.1.1. The Empirical Setting

The short description quoted on the previous page was penned by the first bishop of Manila as part of a letter to the king in Spain. I have chosen it as an introduction into the topic of this dissertation, as it touches upon many crucial aspects of my study of early modern Manila. Looking at Manila as a global stage during the first century of Spanish rule allows us to study the far‐reaching dimensions of the contacts between several ‘political economies’, as well as the challenges of pre‐modern, regional 'globalisation'. The multi‐layered encounters in Manila were the beginning of the historical processes that serve as the frame for a ‘connected histories‘ analysis, which builds upon an idea – that already existed at the end of the sixteenth century – that there existed an interconnected ‘globalised’ world. Altogether, the foreign relations between the three pre‐modern states illustrate the sprouts of the dynamics of ‘globality’ of the early modern period.

The point of departure for my thesis is the Manila‐based cross‐cultural trade.4 In economic history, the foundation of Manila as the capital of the Spanish Philippines in 1571, has been regarded by some as the beginning of global trade. Dennis O. Flynn and Arturo Giráldez, in their often‐quoted article about the impact of intercontinental silver flows on world affairs, wrote that “Manila was the crucial entrepôt linking substantial, direct, and continuous trade between the Americas and Asia for the first time in history.“5 In fact, cross‐cultural trade in Manila was often the product of the diverging political concepts of the three trading nations involved, i.e. the three pre‐modern states referred to in the title of the dissertation.6 Their intercultural encounters and their 4 I am aware that the term usually refers to the Atlantic exchange of European manufactured goods, African slaves and New World resources and agricultural products and differed strikingly from exchange via Manila. Nevertheless, I consider the term appropriate for referring to the characteristic trade patterns that linked the China Seas to the American continent. 5 Dennis O. Flynn and Arturo Giráldez, “Born with a silver spoon, the origins of world trade in 1571,“ in Journal of World History 6 (1995), 201. 6 I will here use Charles Tilly’s straight definition of a state: “When the accumulation and concentration of coercive means grow together, they produce states; they produce distinct organizations that control the chief concentrated means of coercion within well‐defined territories, and exercise priority in some respects over all other organizations operating within those territories.“ Charles Tilly, Coercion, Capital and European States, AD 9901990 (Oxford: Blackwell, 1990), 19. David Kang has also worked with the concepts of ‘states’ by supporting his reasoning with Max Weber who defined a state as representing “a social community and territory, with a monopoly of legitimate violence within that territory.“ See David C.


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impact shall be studied in, and departing from, Manila, as a specific geographical setting in the period between the 1570s and 1640s.

Scholars from various academic backgrounds agree that the encounters between China, Japan and Spain7 led to new dimensions in global trade. In this respect, several historians have tried to ‘evaluate’ the Manila Galleon trade in American silver and Chinese silk and its effects on the Spanish economy.8 Jan de Vries is one who has acknowledged the global relevance of the trading route, stating that: “The ultimate expression of this speculative basis of international trade was the Manila‐Acapulco trade. Because of the inordinate value of silver in Asia and the inordinate demand for silk in Europe, Spaniards found it worthwhile to send silver to Manila and exchange it for silk, which would be sent back to Acapulco, transshipped to Vera Cruz, and then sent on to Spain. Small changes in those conditions undermined this trade in the early seventeenth century.“9 Since the sixteenth‐century Spanish presence in Asia was characterised by a very fragile political power structure, it will strike us that remote Spain managed to dominate such an attractive location despite fierce competition from other powerful pre‐modern states.10 Protagonists’ aspirations and attitudes towards Manila were largely different. My point of departure is that the considerable differences in the behaviour of states, culture11 and political economies matter.12

The Philippines were of secondary interest to imperial Spain – not many Spaniards lived there, and those who did behaved quite independently. Developments in the Kang, East Asia before the West: Five Centuries of Trade and Tribute (New York: Columbia Univ. Press, 2010), 26. 7 I am aware of the debates whether Spain is a proper term to use for the power that reigned over Manila in that period, given that all matters of expansionism and colonialism in the New World were subject to the crown of Castile and its subjects. Nevertheless the term 'Spaña' or 'Hispaña' is regularly found in contemporary sources. For the sake of simplicity, the terms Spanish, Castilian or Overseas Spanish will therefore be used interchangeably in this thesis. 8 Katharine Bjork, “The Link That Kept the Philippines Spanish: Mexican Merchant Interests and the Manila Trade, 1571‐1815“ Journal of World History 9 (1998): 51‐88. 9 Jan de Vries, Economy of Europe in an Age of Crisis 16001750 (Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1976), 115. 10 For an overview on the political entities in South East Asia and the connections between them, at the moment of the Spanish arrival see Anthony Reid, Charting the Shape of Early Modern Southeast Asia (Bangkok: Silkworm Books, 1999). 11 The slippery term culture hereafter includes various aspects including language, religion, traditions and customs. It has become a popular framework for discussing the impact of maritime relations as well as political economies based on fiscal regimes, geography and society. For a detailed discussion see Sanjay Subrahmanyam, The Political Economy of Commerce: Southern India 15001650 (Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1990), 9‐45. 12 For such ideas see Peer H. H. Vries, Via Peking Back to Manchester (Leiden: Research School CNWS, Leiden Univ., 2003). For the role of culture in influencing economic developments see: Eric L. Jones, Cultures Merging. A Historical and Economical Critique of Culture (Princeton: Princeton Univ. Press, 2006).

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Philippines, moreover, did not reflect what the Spanish crown wanted. Nevertheless, Manila happens to be that specific area where the Spanish interacted with the Chinese and the Japanese, and so did their political economies.13

The nature of the South China Sea as a macro‐region was particularly favorable for the development of long‐distance trade,14 and thus provides the key for understanding the emergence of what I hereafter will call the Manila system.15 Students of world history are, as a rule, advised to avoid the word 'system' in contexts where there is no clear division between centres and peripheries. I will use it here in the less circumscribed meaning Paul van Dyke gave it in his ground‐breaking work on the Canton system.16 The term 'system' seems furthermore justified by the references one comes across in the literature, like the Japanese shuinsen system,17 the Atlantic system or the Chinese tributary trade system that all indirectly influenced economic developments in Manila. S.A.M. Adshead, by the way, had already used the term a long time ago in an attempt to integrate the concepts of empire, government and statehood.18 It was characterised by multilayered connections based on negotiations, a complex market torn between protectionism and free trade, triangular circulations and bi‐ or multilateral communication involving different parties of the pre‐modern states Ming China, Azuchi‐Momoyama/Tokugawa Japan and the Spanish Overseas Empire.19

13 Spanish political economy of that time was dominated by mercantilist thought. See Richard Bonney, "Early Modern Theories of State Finance." In Economic Systems and State Finance: The Origins of the Modern State in Europe 13th to 18th Centuries, ed. Richard Bonney (Oxford: Clarendon Press 1995), 171‐172. 14 Linda Grove, Mark Selden, Takeshi Hamashita, eds., China, East Asia and the Global Economy. Regional and Historical Perspectives (London and New York: Routledge, 2008). 15 I am aware that the term 'system' is already taken and moreover problematic since the Manila system is not characterised by centre‐periphery relations as required by sociologists in the 1960s. My conceptualization borrows from Braudel's world economy definitions as well as from the latest empire theories of John Darwin, After Tamerlane. The Global History of Empire (London: Lane, 2007). I chose the term 'system' because of reciprocal forces and long‐lasting structures that to a certain decree overlap with the idea of a connected history. 16 Paul van Dyke, The Canton Trade: Life and Enterprise on the China Coast, 17001845 (Hong Kong: Hong Kong Univ. Press, 2005). The Canton system lasted from 1700 until 1842. It describes transactions and interactions and is characterised by difference. His meticulous study shows how foreign merchants were treated and which institutions were responsible for them, which actors supervised and controlled them with a special focus on the power of knowledge, as well as the use of language as political tool. He concluded that the Chinese state was in particular interested in maintaing harmony and control in foreign trade. 17 A Japanese licensed foreign trade system in Southeast Asia between 1604 and 1635. 18 S.A.M. Adshead, China in World History (Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2001), 206. 19 In each of these three pre‐modern states we find a single hereditary ruler who reigned over a well‐defined territory with a largely agrarian economy. Governance was supported by sophisticated bureaucratic structures. See Jack A. Goldstone, Revolution and Rebellion in the Early Modern World (Berkeley: Univ. of California Press, 1991), 4.


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Contacts were not confined to Manila: ports in China and Japan, such as Quanzhou or Nagasaki, and surrounding oceanic space all the way to Mexico, also became integral parts of it. With the foundation of Manila as a permanent trading base for exchanging American (primarily Mexican)20 silver and Chinese silk in 1571, the economic zone grew. Hence East and South East Asia were gradually integrated into the emerging global economy. All these points will be analysed with the aid of specific case studies in the following chapters. Crucial to our understanding is the high degree of improvisation for the early stage of cross‐cultural trade between the last third of the sixteenth and the first third of the seventeenth century.

The three pre‐modern states considered commercial relations as a form of ‘negotiation’, which explains the close links between diplomacy and trade. This was a further important characteristic of the Manila system. Hence a clear distinction between profit‐oriented commerce and diplomatic communication is not always easy to pinpoint. The Manila system serves as micro‐model for the macro‐analysis of the complex entanglements and forms of competition between those states and in those states, between the local and the central.

Manila’s economic and urban development would have looked entirely different without direct and indirect contributions from the cultural and economic spheres of China, Japan and Overseas Spain. Early modern Manila as a ‘Eurasian’ port city was undoubtedly the product of a histoire croisée between Overseas Spain, Japan and Ming China, at the heyday of what Anthony Reid has termed an "age of commerce".21 The majority of global economic historians will agree that the Spanish‐ruled multiethnic port city linked developing international markets.22 Only in recent years has interest in the highly profitable transpacific exchange of silver and silk increased. In addition, East

20 Marina Alfonso Mola, Carlos Martínez Shaw, "La Era de la Plata Española en Extremo Oriente,“ paper presented at Filipinas en el Imperio Español (15651820). Valladolid, Facultad de Filosofia y Letras, 17 al 21 October 2011. 21 See François Gipouloux, La Méditerranée asiatique. Villes portuaires et réseaux marchands en Chine au Japon et en Asie du SudEst, XVIeXXIe siècle (Paris: CNRS Editions, 2009). 22 For the first attempts to do justice to Manila’s role in world history see Pierre Chaunu, Les Philippines Les Philippines et le Pacifique des Ibériques Pacifique des Ibériques: XVIe, XVIIe, XVIIIe Siècles (Paris: S.E.V.P.E.N, 1960). The French economic historian based his analysis on almojarifazgo data. For the ideas of the 'California School' on Manila's role in global economic history see the famous work of Andre Gunder Frank, ReOrient: Global Economy in the Asian Age (Berkeley: Univ. of California Press, 1998). For studies on China and Japan’s role in an emerging global world around 1600 see Richard von Glahn, Fountain of Fortune: Money and Monetary Policy in China, 10001700 (Berkeley: Univ. of California Press, 1996); Ronald Toby, State and Diplomacy in Early Modern Japan: Asia in the Development of the Tokugawa Bakufu (Stanford: Stanford Univ. Press 1991).

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Asia’s role in early globalisation23 processes has drawn scholars’ attention to early modern Manila.24 In this respect, the work by Dennis O. Flynn and Antonio Giráldez on trans‐Pacific bullion flows and their impact on the pre‐modern world economy has been fiercely debated amongst scholars of economic history.25

Here, a word of explanation with regard to the local population of the archipelago is in order. Indigenous people of the archipelago were by far the largest ethnic group that settled in and around Manila, partaking in Manila’s early modern economic history. The reason why they will not be considered separately in this study is simple: they lacked a state and a political economy of their own, or rather, they were regarded as part of the Spanish unit.

Historical research on the South China Sea has shown that this region – mostly due to Ming China’s restrictive policies on foreign trade – encouraged mainly private traders, who were calling at key Malay entrepôts such as Malacca and Chinese coastal centres prior to the arrival of the Iberians.26 They ranged from Muslim and Malay traders to Overseas Chinese, mostly from Southern Fujian, to Ryukyuans, as well as merchants from the Indian subcontinent. This environment fuelled the formation of loosely allied Japanese and Chinese trading groups – the so called wokou or wakō27– whose economic activity could also include pillaging and raiding. It is noteworthy that their maritime activities peaked around the middle of the sixteenth century,28 at a time when the Iberians appeared as promising business partners for the East Asians. Together with merchants from Fujian,29 illicit merchant adventurers would become the pioneers of the 23 Jan de Vries has used following definition based on Manfred Steger's short summary: “[...] globalization is about shifting forms of human contact’ leading toward greater interdependence and integration, such that the time and space aspects of social relations become compressed, resulting in the ‘intensification of the world as a whole [...]."Cf. Jan de Vries, "The Limits of Globalization in the Early Modern World" Economic History Review (2009): 2. 24 Flynn and Giráldez, “Born With a Silver Spoon,“ 201: "[Global trade] emerged when all important populated continents began to exchange products continuously – both with each other and directly and indirectly via other continents – and in values sufficient to generate crucial impacts on all trading partners." 25 Bhaswati Bhattacharya, "Making Money at the Blessed Place of Manila. Americans in the Madras‐Manila Trade in the Eighteenth Century" Journal of Global History 3, no. 1 (2008): 1‐20; For a concise synthesis see Ubaldo Iaccarino, "Manila as an International Entrepôt: Chinese and Japanese Trade with the Spanish Philippines at the Close of the 16th Century." Bulletin of Portuguese/Japanese Studies 16, (2008): 71‐81. 26 For the mobile networks in the South China Sea I refer to Craig A. Lockard, “The Sea Common to All“: Maritime Frontiers, Port Cities, and Chinese Traders in the South East Asian Age of Commerce, ca. 1400‐1750,“ Journal of World History 21, no. 2 (2010), 219‐247. 27 倭寇 wakō literally means Japanese pirate. But most of the time comprised a larger number of Japanese. 28 Maehira Fuseaki, “Minchō No Kaiken Seisaku to Ryūkyū Kaikin. Wakōron Wo Chūshin ni“ Kōtsūshi kenkyū 67 (2008), 61‐76. 29Chinese merchants calling on Manila were mainly Min people also known as Hokkien or Minnan.


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Manila trade and substantially contributed to the flourishing decades in the development of Manila and its natural harbour in Cavite. Thus, the fact that most studies of pre‐modern Manila fail to take into account the various local and proto‐national influences from China, Japan and Europe, during Asia’s global integration, calls for a deeper and more systematic look into the subject.30

Manila's economic ‘failure’ of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries contrasts sharply to the developments of the early decades. This invites us to look closely at the role of the state in determining foreign relations, the impact of economic possibilities and official decision‐making, as well as changes in diplomacy, common sense in historiography on Asia, as Kang summarised: "[E]arly modern East Asia was interconnected diplomatically, culturally, economically, and politically."31 Less acknowledged is the fact that the Philippine archipelago was part of it.

When the Philippines first came to the attention of the Europeans, following the arrival of Ferdinand Magellan in Cebú half a millennium ago, nobody was aware of the islands' world historical importance.32 Least of all the Spaniards, whose hopes to find either spices or precious metals in abundance soon vanished. Nor could anyone know that the archipelago in the South China Sea would over centuries remain a geopolitical target for European, Asian and American powers alike.

When the three ‘political economies' first met, the central governments did not try to monopolise power in Manila. The large‐scale exchange of silver, silk and other luxury items such as porcelain nevertheless failed to encourage any country to take lasting advantage of Manila’s unprecedented possibilities at the end of the sixteenth and the beginning of the seventeenth centuries.33 Herein lays a contradiction. Taking into account that despite the “generative role of the galleons“,34 the promising early decades resulted in economic dissatisfaction, mutual mistrust and a Philippine economy that was 30 One of the most recent examples is François Gipouloux, La Méditerranée asiatique. 31 Kang, East Asia, 108 "Trade served as a double‐edged instrument of system consolidation: it facilitated both more intense state‐to‐state interactions and the development of domestic state institutions. The picture that emerges is one [...] governed by national laws, diplomacy, and protocols, with states attempting to control, limit, and benefit from trade." 32 Integration of the archipelago into these networks dates back even before the arrival of the Spanish but the attraction of Luzón and Visayas increased enormously once the Europeans had settled there. 33 Benito J. Legarda, "Cultural Landmarks and Their Interactions with Economic Factors in the Second Millenium in the Philippines," Kindaamon XXIII (2001): 44: “[…] the resulting trade between the great empire of China and the silver‐rich colonies of the Americas, with the Philippines standing in the center of the whole enterprise, gave a completely new dimension, and a new direction, to Asia’s trade. It completed the circle of world trade." 34 Robert R. Reed, Colonial Manila. The Context of Hispanic Urbanism and Process of Morphogenesis (Berkeley: Univ. of California Press, 1978), 27‐30.

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not even able to sustain itself, one cannot help thinking that something did go wrong. For Manila itself, one is even tempted to think that the triangular relations did more economic harm than good. Indeed, it has often been argued that the poor economic development of the Phillipines was more the result of inefficient Castilian governance and less the product of the multicultural nature of the area. The question of what kind of dynamics controlled the rise and fall of the multiethnic South East Asian35 port city, where annually at least one hundred thousand kilograms of silver circulated, remains unanswered.

35 The Spelling ‘South East Asia’ is used to indicate that the term both covers regions in South East as well as East Asia.


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Map 1 Manila System

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1.1.2. Research Overview and Questions

The majority of historical writing has looked at the Philippines in isolation and repeated long‐held misconceptions of their early modern history. To conceive an alternative narrative, disentangling the historical processes from national history writing, is essential. In this dissertation, I aim to show how to examine 'large processes' embedded in multi‐layered structures. Integrating Manila into world history thus happens (a) on an empirical level by considering the city's contribution to (proto‐)global developments and socio‐economic phenomena and (b) on a historiographical level by providing a balanced view of different narratives and discourses.

This dissertation examines multi‐layered interactions based on the dualism between local and central, respectively private and state‐controlled exchange. Opposing the common observation that the city was nothing more than a trading outpost for the Spanish and the Chinese,36 I will also try to address to what extent the Manila system influenced consequent maritime policies, hegemonic aims and geo‐political strategies in China, Japan and Spain.

A complex topic asks for a clear set of questions. Three broad questions have accompanied this analysis. They will be introduced briefly and described in further detail in the main chapters. The first category of questions focuses on early modern Manila and asks: What was the role of the central governments of China, Japan and Spain in global trade? How was the Manila trade integrated into their foreign policies and what can that tell us about their political economies?

The second set of questions derived from the desire to know what sovereignty meant to each of these countries and how they applied the concept towards Luzon. What was the role of the central governments? How did these pre‐modern states deal with foreign affairs and why did none of them benefit lastingly from Manila?

The Manila trade appeared to encourage short‐term growth but did not lead to long‐term benefits. This contrast leads us to questions regarding the dichotomy between local and central interests. Did Manila ‘fail’ because it lacked a Spanish East Asian 36 For the 'way‐station thesis' see among others Oskar H. K. Spate, The Spanish Lake. The Pacific since Magellan (Minneapolis: Univ. of Minnesota Press, 1979); Lothar Knauth, Confrontación Transpacífica. El Japon y el Nuevo Mundo Hispanico 15421639 (México: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico, 1972) or Charles R. Boxer, "Plata Es Sangre: Sidelights on the Drain of Spanish‐American Silver in the Far East 1500‐1700" Philippine Studies 18, no. 3 (1970): 457‐478.


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chartered trading company? What role did mercantilist policies play on an early modern market?37 In order to avoid implicit ethnocentrism,38 all questions will either be answered from a 'Manila‐angle' or from a triangular perspective that equally covers all three pre‐modern states. On the basis of selected case studies, these topics will be highlighted in their local, regional, national and international dimensions and interdependencies, and a chronological order will be followed as long as coherence permits.

1.1.3. State of the Art 39

When I started my research, I was convinced that the ultimate goal has to be bringing the Spanish period on the Philippines back to history. In the process of writing, however, it turned out that the academic community had never entirely lost its interest in the Philippines, but that the century‐long efforts only had to be brought together in order to contribute to new findings in global history.40

At first glance much of the historiography on the Philippines lacks objectivity. Often it reads as the (hi)story(iography) of extremes, either based on a very positive or a very negative view of developments. The early modern or colonial period41 fared particularly poorly. The rather thin scholarly output can be segmented into several stages of writing history of the Philippines: both early Catholic chroniclers’ descriptions of the res gestae of the ruling Spaniards and nationalistic scholarship of the late nineteenth and first half of the twentieth century had their hidden as well as obvious agendas.42 The third phase 37 Fernand Braudel, Civilization and Capitalism III: Perspective of the World (New York: Harper, 1984), 21‐88. 38 Patrick O’Brien, "Historiographical Traditions and Modern Imperatives for the Restoration of Global History" Journal of Global History 1 (2006): 3‐39. 39 For reasons of limited space an in‐depth state of the art is impossible for this topic. It would mean giving an overview of complementing traditions of writing history in several countries. I therefore just mention a few seminal works. Representative studies will be discussed in the following chapters. 40 The controversial question is no longer simply tackled by a few historians but has become a topic of popular interest. See Luis Francisco Martínez Montes, "Spain and China in the Age of Globalization (Part I)." The Globalist. How the World Really Hangs Together (online magazine) (2009, June 9), http://www.theglobalist.com/storyid.aspx?storyid=7813, accessed November 22, 2011. Spain's relations with East Asia started to attract popular history as well. See Ramon Vilaró, Sol Naciente. Historias HispanoJaponesas (Barcelona: RBA Libros, 2011). Although a journalist he addressed the topic – except for a few inaccuracies – with sufficient source criticism. 41 In Philippine historiography often referred to as Spanish period. 42 For an overview of the most prominent chronicles see 2.1.4. Edited sources. For strong nationalistic Philippine history writing see annotations of José Rizal of Antonio de Morga, Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas created in 1889. The work has been re‐published as Antonio de Morga, Historical Events of the Philippine Islands published in Mexico in 1609 recently brought to light and annotated by José Rizal (Manila: National Historical Institute, 2008); For a later example see Gregorio F. Zaide, The Philippines since PreSpanish

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is best summarised as a phase of random and sporadic contribution from different scholarly backgrounds of varying qualities.43 Data was often poorly researched, misrepresented, or highly selective. Moreover, Chinese and Japanese contributions were rarely integrated in a bigger picture. Only in recent years have committed scholars of global history tried to do justice to the archipelago’s outstanding role in an emerging global economy. Contributions, however, remain loosely linked. In addition, several essays and shorter articles have been published focusing on the Philippines' connection with an emerging world trade.44

It would be wrong to ignore the major contributions to the historiography of the Philippines of which future generations of researches benefited. The most prominent work, beyond doubt, is The Manila Galleon by William Lytle Schurz, first published in 1939.45 His book provides us with the exciting history of those ships that were crossing the Pacific on behalf of the Spanish Monarchy from 1565 to 1815, i.e. just before Mexico gained independence from Spain. The French economic historian Pierre Chaunu, to whom we owe greatly for essential figures, for instance that more than a third of American silver went to Asia, collected extensive statistical data on trans‐Pacific trade in the Spanish archives.46

Another outstanding work is a monograph published by Robert R. Reed, who traced Manila’s character from its establishment as colonial capital in 1571 to its growth as a cosmopolitan entrepôt up to the early 1600s.47 We should not forget that several Filipino historians have carried out internationally recognised research. Benito Legarda Jr. started a trend in the late 1960s – that was followed by Leslie Bauzon – in researching the country’s complex economic history.48 Times. (Manila: Garcia Publishing Co., 1949). 43 See Knauth, Confrontación; Spate, Spanish Lake; J. I. Israel, "Mexico and the “General Crisis“ of the Seventeenth Century" in Past and Present 63 (1974): 33–57. 44 Dennis O. Flynn has taken the initiative to collect articles on the history of the Pacific Rim in his Ashgate Valorum series “The Pacific World“ over the past decade. Seminal reprints in the series include Berthold Laufer, "The Relations of the Chinese to the Philippine Islands" (Washington 1907) in European Entry into the Pacific, ed. Dennis O. Flynn et al, (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2001), 55‐92; M.T. Paske‐Smith, "The Japanese Trade and Residence in the Philippines. Before and during the Spanish Occupation" (Tokyo, 1914) in ibid, 139‐164; Michael N. Pearson, "Spain and Spanish Trade in Southeast Asia" (Wiesbaden, 1968) in ibid, 117‐138. For Manila's urban history I refer to Daniel F. Doeppers, "The Development of Philippine Cities before 1900," in Journal of Asian Studies 21, no. 4 (1972): 769‐792. 45 William Lytle Schurz, The Manila Galleon (Manila: Historical Conservation Society, 1985). First published in 1939. 46 Chaunu, Philippines. 47 Reed, Colonial Manila; For primary source data he completely relied on edited and translated sources. 48 Benito J. Legarda, After the Galleons: Foreign Trade, Economic Change and Entrepreneurship in the NineteenthCentury Philippines (Madison: Univ. of Wisconsin Center for Southeast Asian Studies, 1999);


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What all these studies lack is a clear focus on both early modern Spanish and Japanese data.49 Like all narratives, they are the product of a certain perspective and only reflect part of the truth. Highly biased historiography on Spanish Manila is partly rooted in the far‐reaching power of the leyenda negra50 propaganda, as well as the fact that academic exchange between Spanish and anglophone researchers is still limited.51 Anti‐Spanish propaganda has survived in the historiography to this present day. Scholars furthermore used to copy from the same standard works that have distorted our images on the Philippines.52 A further source of irritation in the Philippines’ written history lies in constant neglecting the archipelago when studying the Spanish Empire. In recent seminal works in that field the Philippines were only relegated to a footnote at best.53

There has also long been criticism that historians of South East Asia had consistently failed to integrate comparative approaches into their research. Roderich Ptak, Anthony Reid and Victor Lieberman were among the first who changed directions and renewed

John Leddy Phelan, Hispanization of the Philippines. Spanish Aims and Filipino Responses 15651700 (Madison: Univ. of Wisconsin Press, 1959), 20. 49 Leslie E. Bauzon, Deficit Government. Mexico and the Philippine Situado 16061804 (Tokyo: The Centre for East Asian Cultural Studies, 1981), 20. His accusations have been partly falsified by Luis Alonso, "Financing the Empire: The Nature of the Tax System in the Philippines, 1565‐1804," Philippine Studies 51, no. 1 (2003): 63‐95. 50 The so‐called black legend refers to an anti‐Spanish propaganda whose origin dates back to the Revolt of the Netherlands. While the original leyenda negra writing only focused on political and religious issues, Spain’s failing economic performance has held centre stage in more recent black‐painted histories. The term itself was coined by Julían Juderías in the early twentieth century and refers to the hostile writing about the Spanish (Castilian) Monarchy and its people. The leyenda negra accuses the Spanish of ruthlessly spreading Catholicism and political tyranny. For further details see Joseph Pérez, La Leyenda Negra (Madrid: Gadir Editorial, 2009). For the impact of the leyenda negra propaganda in the days of Philip II see ibid, 53‐139. Spanish historiography responded with the leyenda rosa that aimed at demonstrating Spanish civilizing contributions to colonial settings. 51 With the exception of Juan Gil's and Maria Lourdes Díaz‐Trechuelo's work Spanish scholarship has hardly had the opportunity to be read outside Spain. Juan Gil, Hidalgos y Samurais. Espana y Japon en los Siglos XVI Y XVII. (Madrid: Alianza, 1991); Maria Lourdes Díaz‐Trechuelo, Filipinas. La Gran Desconocida (15651898) (Pamplona: Ediciones Universidad de Navarra), 2001. Further Spanish scholarship worth mentioning include: Emilio Sola, Historia de un Desencuentro. España y Japón, 15801614 (Alcalá: Fugaz Ediciones, 1999). The contributions to Marina Alfonso Mola, Carlos Martínez‐Shaw, eds., La Ruta de España a China (Madrid: El Viso, 2008) also deserve extra mentioning for their excellent syntheses and illustrations. 52 The compilation "The Chinese in the Philippines, 1570‐1770" is a typical case of a quite bold interpretation of facts, uncritical copying and not to mention sloppy editing. See Alonso Felix ed., The Chinese in the Philippines 15701770 (Manila: Solidaridad, 1966); Zaide, for instance, speaks of the “Spanish dream of oriental empire and Spanish plans to invade China“, see Zaide, Philippines, 266. 53 See among others: Charles R. Boxer, South China in the Sixteenth Century. Being the Narratives of Galeote Pereira, Fr. Gaspar da Cruz and Martín de Rada, D.E.S.A. (155075) (Bangkok: Orchid Press, 2004), xl‐xli. See also Henry Kamen, Empire. How Spain Became a World Power, 14921763 (New York: Harper, 2003); Geoffrey Parker, The World Is Not Enough: The Imperial Vision of Philip II of Spain (Waco: Baylor Univ. Press, 2001). One chapter is dedicated to the Philippines, called “The Pearl the Orient”, 197‐237.

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historiography on South East Asia.54 However, as with the historical accounts of other Spanish Overseas territories, the Philippines have not gained sufficient attention in these studies.55

Although a significant share of the Manila‐trade entered China, insufficient attention has been paid to Manila’s overall role for pre‐modern economies in the region. Within the field of macro‐level perspectives in parallel or comparative histories, scholars have not only uncritically accepted the leyenda negra by painting a picture of a Spanish crown unable to enforce efficient economic policies; but have also added a blue and a yellow legend for China,56 and perhaps even for Japan.57

The development of trends in Chinese and Japanese historiography is also of interest. The most prominent figure promoting the closed‐country thesis was the influential British historian Charles R. Boxer, who for post 1639 Tokugawa Japan coined the expression 'the closed country'58 The definition of the concept itself dates back to Engelbert Kämpfer's stay in Japan. Kämpfer emphasised in his written accounts on Japan that – with reference to Japanese foreign policy – the Dutch had a monopoly in trading with the ‘closed’ country.59 However, the term sakoku, with its increasingly negative 54 Anthony Reid, Southeast Asia in the Age of Commerce, 14501680, The Land Below the Winds I (New Haven, Conn.: Yale Univ. Press, 1988); idem, Expansion and Crisis, Vol. II (New Haven, Conn.: Yale Univ. Press, 1993) For a recently published comprehensive description of the area in the early modern period see Victor Lieberman, Strange Parallels. Southeast Asia in Global Context, c. 8001830. Volume 2: Mainland Mirrors: Europe, Japan, China, South Asia, and the Islands (Cambridge, Mass.: Cambridge Univ. Press, 2009); The first volume of the series focuses less explicitly on the South China Sea but provides nevertheless worthwhile insights. Idem, Strange Parallels, Volume 1: Integration on the Mainland (Cambridge, Mass.: Cambridge Univ. Press, 2003). As well as one of the many studies by Roderich Ptak. Roderich Ptak, China and the Asian Seas. Trade, Travel, and Visions of the Other (1400 ‐ 1750) (Aldershot: Ashgate Variorum, 1998). 55 A few exceptions exist, i.e. F. Landa Jocano, The Philippines at the Spanish Contact (Manila: MCS Enterprises, Inc., 1975). This reader for students gives a fairly comprehensive primary‐source based overview of the early Spanish period. 56 The discussion whether imperial China at the dawn of European arrival in Asia was 'blue' (as open and progressive) or 'yellow' (as backward and despotic) has been debated among China historians. I am grateful to my colleague Kent Deng for enlightening me on these points. A different 'yellow' legend could be also interpreted in terms of Japanese emphasis of a Japanese Sonderweg that was rooted in the specific political and economic path it chose at the beginning of the seventeenth century or the miraculous defeat of the Mongol fleet in 1281. 57 Such interpretations were challenged during the last decades by Amino Yoshihiko who advocated for a multiplicity of centres of medieval Japan as well as looking at Japanese history "from the sea”, and Bruce Batten who strongly focused on centre‐periphery concepts when arguing against Japanese heterogeneity. Bruce Loyd Batten, To the Ends of Japan: Premodern Frontiers, Boundaries, and Interactions (Honolulu: Univ. of Hawai'i Press, 2003). Murai Shōsuke opted for wider time frames in understanding Japanese history. Murai Shosuke, Umi kara Mita Sengoku Nihon. Rettōshi kara Sekaishi he (Tokyo: Chikuma Shinso, 1997). 58 Charles R. Boxer, The Christian Century in Japan, 15491650 (Berkeley: Univ. of California Press, 1951), 362. 59 Cf. Toby, State and Diplomacy, 4; 13: Roland Toby furthermore tells us that at the turn to the nineteenth


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connotation, was only coined in the in later centuries.60 Recent generations of historians have examined Japanese interactions in a wider world from an innovative maritime perspective.61

Even more recent scholarship on the political economy of the Spanish Overseas Empire has continued to omit the Philippines and the cross‐cultural character of the Manila‐trade has hardly been taken into account.62 Although Japanese scholarship has thankfully contributed to that field of research,63 Japanese research only slowly provokes new enquiries in other regions of the world, for almost everything has been written in Japanese.64

What about historical treatises on China’s role in the emerging trade relations? Although even earlier (lengthy) debates on oriental despotism have been left behind, recent Chinese imperial history is still torn between older stagnation discourses and a new focus on the integrating dynamics of traditional systems, such as tributary relations that emphasise that China – on its peripheries – integrated in the early modern world economy, instead of having a completely closed economy. According to Takeshi Hamashita, the rest of the world had to adapt to China.65 As a pioneer in advocating Asia's global integration, he overturned Marxist narratives and anti‐maritime discourses that had long determined the picture of a long‐stagnant Asia.

century, a Japanese intellectual, the Nagasaki Dutch interpreter Shizuki Tadao picked up Kämpfer's interpretation for his defence of the commercial status quo and coined the Japanese term 'sakokuron' for this form of Tokugawa foreign affairs. An unpublished translation circulated privately until the 1850s. 60 It was coined when a Japanese scholar translated Engelbert Kaempfer's surprisingly positive accounts of late seventeenth‐century treatise (first published in 1727) on the Japanese ‘isolation’. 61 For a synthesis of ‘umi kara mita ajia’ (Japan as seen from the ocean) ‐research see Leo Ching, "Japan in Asia" in A Companion to Japanese History, ed. William M. Tsutsui (London: Blackwell, 2009), 407 speaks of Japan's "historical position vis‐á‐vis Asia" and based on Edward Said, about a "imaginative geography" that determines Japan's place in a world economy. Nakajima Gakushō, “16 sekimatsu fukken‐firipin‐kyūshūbōeki“ The Shien 144 (2007), 55‐92. 62 Kamen, Spain’s Road to Empire; I refer to an influential article by Regina Grafe and Alejandra Irigoin, "Bargaining for Absolutism: A Spanish Path to Nation‐State and Empire," in HispanoAmerican Historical Review 88, no. 2 (2008): 173‐209. 63 See among others Igawa Kenji, Daikōkai jidai no higashi ajia: Nichiō tsūkō no rekishiteki zentei (Tokyo: Yoshikawa Kōbunkan, 2007). Ōishi Shinzaburō, ed., Shuinsen to Minami he no Senkusha (Tokyo: Gyōsei, 1986). Nagazumi Yōko, "17seiki Shotō Supeinryō Firipin Seifu no Nihonkankei Monjo" Nantō shigaku 63 (2004); Sugiya Nariko, "Supein ryō no firipin no seiritsu," Tōnanajiashi 3 Tōnanajiashi no Kinsei no Seiritsu 1517 seiki, ed. Ikehata Setsuo et al., (Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten, 2001). 64 This research trend already started in the midst of the twentieth century when many Spanish chronicles and other related material, including Morga's Sucesos and parts of Pablo Pastells' oeuvre, were translated into Japanese. 65 Giovanni Arrighi, Takeshi Hamashita, Mark Selden, eds., The Resurgence of East Asia: 500, 150 and 50 Year Perspectives (London: Routledge, 2003).

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1.2. Sources

One reason for relying heavily on primary sources is that I feel compelled to keep my account as objective as possible and not to repeat misconceptions. The variety of sources moreover helped me resist the temptation of taking a ‘black and white’ viewpoint. Nobody will deny the importance of raw data for unraveling persistent discourses. This is a far from straightforward job though. When cross‐reading sixteenth and seventeenth century‐documents, we constantly have to ask why certain information is given and what may have been the reason for the lack of other information. In many cases, even allegedly ordinary things produced misunderstanding, distrust and resentment.

New knowledge gained from a critical empirical study of early modern events will be examined in the light of relevant theories of global history.66 As Masashi Haneda points out in his latest edited book, “we need a new model of world history that is pertinent to, and corresponds with, the reality of our globalizing, transforming and interconnected world.”67 This dissertation aims at highlighting these new perspectives that have only recently gained ground in Asian history and therefore intends to leave behind the long out‐dated Fairbank narrative of 'Western impact and Asian responses' once and for all.68

1.2.1. Primary Sources and the Problem of Data

A study in history is only as good as the choice of its sources. The sources that were selected for my empirical research include data drawn from correspondence with the colonial government in the Philippines, seventeenth‐century records of Japanese foreign affairs, as well as a few official records of the Ming Dynasty.

Some readers may be irritated about the inequality between Western and Eastern

66 For specific methods and theories of global history that have been subject to major scholarly debate see: Ulf Engel, Matthias Middell, "Bruchzonen der Globalisierung, Globale Krisen und Territorialitätsregimes – Kategorien Einer Globalgeschichtsschreibung" Comparativ 15, no. 5‐6 (2005): 5‐38. Bruce Mazlish, "Comparing Global History to World History" Journal of Interdisciplinary History 28, no. 3, (1998): 385‐395; David Armitage, "Is There a Pre‐History of Globalization" in Comparison and History. Europe in CrossNational Perspective, edited by Deborah Cohen et al., (London/New York: Routledge, 2004): 165‐175. Patrick Manning, Navigating World History. Historians Create a Global Past (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003); Charles Bright, Michael Geyer, "World History in a Global Age" The American Historical Review 100, no. 4 (1995): 1034‐1060. 67 Masashi Haneda, “Introduction” in idem, ed., Asian Port Cities 16001800. Local and Foreign Cultural Interactions (Singapore: NUS Press, 2009), 1. 68 John K. Fairbank, ed., The Chinese World Order. Traditional China's Foreign Relations (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard Univ. Press, 1968).


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sources. This however should not be interpreted as clear sign for Eurocentrism, but lies in the simple fact that Spain meticulously recorded far more than the other countries. Even though China’s and Japan’s bureaucratic traditions also led to an enormous output of historical records, they were both deficient in recording early modern data on maritime ventures and the outside world.69 Moreover, Chinese and Japanese interactions and transactions were often carried out on an unofficial or semi‐legal basis. The pre‐dominance of private merchants in all trade actions aggravates the dilemma of scholarship in that field. They have left only the faintest imprint in documentary records.

1.2.2. Spanish Data

The collections of the Archivo General de Indias in Seville comprise of official decrees on governing the Philippines, commercial policies, correspondence between authorities and other individuals of Spanish origin who lived and worked in the colony, as well as memorials and orders of the king and his councils dealing with the 'Indies'. The voluminous document corpus of the Audiencia de Filipinas holds the bulk of relevant Spanish material for this study. Other related sources can be found among documents of the Audiencia de México and the Patronato Real. The existence of Castilian overseas colonies and plans for expansion encouraged an unparalleled early modern knowledge gathering. Active – and at times aggressive – approaches in extending the Spanish sphere of influence beyond her territorial borders led to an impressive accumulation of information and recorded observations. Even though such foreign eyewitness accounts have their limitations for being biased and manipulative, critically analysed they are invaluable for drawing meaningful conclusions.

1.2.3. Japanese Data

Despite their scarcity, Japanese primary sources on foreign relations of this period represent the second important pillar of this research. Information was mainly used for defense. The early Tokugawa rulers therefore initiated information gathering on the outside world, including the newly arrived Europeans. Most prominent among the texts this produced are the Ikoku Nikki (Diary of Foreign Countries) and the Tsūkō Ichiran

69 These developments were part of the seclusion policies and restrictions on foreign policies implemented by the central government both in Ming China and Tokugawa Japan.

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(Records on Navigation).70 The Dai Nihon Shi, the bakufu’s official daily records, also provide us with a few details on relations with Luzón . A further remarkable document is the Luzon Oboegaki, drafted in the 1670s when relations with the Spanish had already been broken off.

What we have to consider in our source criticism is that all Japanese primary sources were records of the Tokugawa regime, collected and compiled by order and under supervision of the regime. The scarcity of historical records and official documentation on its foreign relations with Spain itself is already a telling indication for differences in early modern foreign policies.

Record keeping was monopolised by Buddhist monks. In addition, Buddhist advisories controlled correspondence in foreign affairs. Under the reign of Tokugawa Ieyasu, for instance, a Zen Rinzai monk Ishin Sūden, also known as Konchiin Sūden, gained credentials in this field.71 He played a significant role in creating a culture of foreign correspondence and spreading anti‐Christian sentiments that led to the prohibitions of 1612 and 1614. What is particularly interesting for us is that he was also involved in communications with the Spanish authorities in Manila. The language used in all official sources was classical Japanese, commonly in use in official documents in the sixteenth century and different from modern Japanese.

1.2.4. Chinese Data

Works of interest include printed editions of imperial histories such as the Ming Shi (Ming Annals) and the Ming Shilu (Veritable Records), as well as the Daming Huidian72 for foreign and tributary trade, and the Dongxi Yangkao for relations with Japan and the 'Franks'. The latter comprises studies on the Eastern and Western Oceans and is dedicated to the descriptions of the regions of East Asia and their relations with China,

70 Tsūkō Ichiran ed. Hayami Akira et al., (Osaka: Seibundō 1967); Ishin Sūden, Ikoku Nikki Shō ed. Murakami Naojirō (Tokyo: Sanshūya, 1911). 71 崇伝 (1569‐1633): He began his political career as an important advisor of Tokugawa Ieyasu. After having built Konchi‐ni temples in both Edo and Sunpu, Isshin Sūden commuted between these two shogunal residences. Sūden played an important role in negotiations with the Chinese Ming court over the reopening of trade and the nuissance of piracy. He was also instrumental in organising foreign delegations and drafting correspondence (kokusho). He compiled all the diplomatic records of the Ikoku Nikki. 72 A compilation of the Ming dynasty published in 1510 on the tributary system and foreign trade. Pin‐tsun Chang, "Chinese Maritime Trade. The Case of Sixteenth‐Century Fu‐Chien (Fukien)" Ph.D dissertation, Princeton Univ., 1983, 9.


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as well as information on maritime routes. It was drafted between 1617 and 1618.73 Chinese historiography is still underrepresented in comparative studies of global connections. Manila‐based studies are no exception, even though Zhang Weihua already carried out extraordinary research in the first half of the twentieth century.74

For my limited Chinese skills, I had to rely heavily on translated and edited works as well as on secondary literature for generating the relevant data.75 The famous Ming‐shi had been thoroughly scrutinised by experts on Chin

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